"Adobe Flash Player 'Square' is a preview release that enables native 64-bit support on Linux, Mac OS, and Windows operating systems, as well as enhanced support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 beta. We have made this preview available so that users can test existing content and new platforms for compatibility and stability."

I am happy to see flash get some competition. Adobe will either make Flash a better product or it will shift the Flash IDE into being a tool to develop for this new suite of media technologies.

The Flash IDE has already been adapted by Adobe into being a tool to develop for this new suite of media technologies. Perhaps Adobe has seen the writing on the wall.

Open alternatives to flash are a good thing, but Flash itself is not a bad thing... It is just a tool.

No, Flash is a bad thing. It comes from a sole-source supplier, and it is delivered in binary form only. That puts the sole-source supplier in a position to determine which platforms do get support, and which do not. If Flash were the only option, that would put Adobe into the position that they could decide, for example, if ARM platforms could have a Flash binary available, or if Adobe wanted to provide only binaries for Atom and other Intel CPUs, but not AMD and ARM for example.

If a new player, such as ARM, wanted to enter a market that involved displaying rich content delivered via the Internet, Adobe could say yay or nay. That lets Adobe put their own price on the provision of Flash for ARM devices.

I mean, imagine if Apple decide to put a new ARM-based chip of their own design into the iPad and that Apple sought Flash support for it? I could see where Adobe might want to charge Apple a fortune, and I could see that Apple might not be too happy with being held to ransom by Adobe ...

Oh, wait.

That whole situation is a very bad thing. Sole-source suppliers for any piece of critical technology is a very, very bad thing.